NASHVILLE, Tenn.--July 19, 2001--
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. (BFS) today reaffirmed the safety of its
Wilderness AT tires, informing the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) that the facts and the data do not support an
agency action that could result in an expanded recall of any
Wilderness AT tires, including those equipped primarily on Ford
Explorers.
"We will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of the
driving public. If one of our tires might jeopardize that safety, then
we'll take it off the road. We've done it before and, if it becomes
necessary, we'll do it again. But, that is simply not the case here,"
said John Lampe, Chairman, CEO and President of Bridgestone/Firestone.
To date, NHTSA has failed to make its analysis available to BFS
for the company to review in any meaningful way. BFS's own extensive
examination and evaluation of its tires, competitor tires and the Ford
Explorer clearly show that the Wilderness AT tires are safe and that
further action against the tires is unnecessary and counterproductive.
As this matter moves forward, the company will use every available
step in the process to prove the safety of its tires, including public
hearings, and if necessary, pursuing this issue in the courts.
"We appreciate NHTSA's diligence on this issue, but we strongly
disagree with any suggestion that a recall action might be warranted
and believe any such action could have potentially serious
consequences for the driving public and the entire tire industry,"
said Lampe, referring to the testing that shows the Firestone tires
perform well within industry levels on all tests. "This much is clear.
Our tires are safe. And, we will use every opportunity available to us
to make that point."
"If the real issue at hand is the safety of the driving public --
and we believe it is -- then taking more of our tires off the road is
not the solution. It doesn't solve the real problem: the vehicle,"
Lampe added. "We now know this to be a fact: you can take every
Firestone tire off every Explorer and the rollovers and fatal
accidents will continue. We've seen it in Venezuela, and we are now
seeing it in the U.S."

Among the points the company cites in support of its position:

Wilderness ATs are comparable to competitors' tires. Exhaustive
tests show that across the board, Firestone tires perform the same
as, if not better than, similar competitor tires that are
currently being fitted to Ford vehicles, including Explorers. The
tests conducted include: peel force, belt edge temperature tests,
SAE high speed testing and holography/shearography.

Wilderness AT tires have extremely low claims rates. A tire's
performance and safety must be judged by a number of factors.
Claims rates alone are not an accurate measure of a tire's
performance. However, even if claims rates were to be used as a
determinative factor, the claims history of Wilderness ATs shows
that the tires are performing well in the field.

A tread separation is not always a tire defect. Rather, tread
separations can result from a number of different causal factors
related to tire use. All tires, no matter what brand of
manufacture, can experience tread separations, and some will. This
can happen whether as a result of low inflation, improper repair,
a road hazard that causes a slow leak, an impact break or a
similar incident. It is one of the most common failure modes for
any steel belted radial tire, regardless of brand.

The vehicle must also be investigated. The very same Wilderness AT
tire performs very differently on the Ford Explorer than it does
on the Ford Ranger. At the same time similar Wilderness AT tires
mounted on non-Ford vehicles perform at virtually flawless levels.
In addition, published reports show that tread separations leading
to rollovers and other accidents continue, no matter what brand
tire is fitted on the vehicle. An investigation conducted by Dr.
Dennis Guenther suggests certain models of the Ford Explorer are
plagued by significant safety problems because of inherent flaws
in its design.

About Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.

Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., is a subsidiary of
Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest tire and rubber company.
Bridgestone/Firestone manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone,
Dayton and house and private brand tires. The company also produces
Firestone air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber and
industrial products. The company employs approximately 35,000
employees in North America. For further information, please visit our
Web site at www.bridgestone-firestone.com.